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Aurora Cotop wins senior women’s event at Skate Canada Challenge

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PIERREFONDS, Que. – Aurora Cotop of Toronto won the gold medal in senior women’s event on Sunday to conclude the Skate Canada Challenge figure skating competition.

Cotop was third in the free skate but maintained top spot overall with 162.85 points. Michelle Long of Newmarket, Ont., won the free skate to soar from eighth to second at 161.47 and Alicia Pineault of Varennes, Que., was third at 159.25.

‘’It was alright, certainly it’s been better in training,’’ said Cotop, 15, about her free program. ‘’There are jumps that I’m still working on towards the nationals.’’

In senior ice dancing, Haley Sales of Burnaby, B.C., and Nikolas Wamsteeker of Langley, B.C., hung on to top spot with 156.66. Sarah Arnold of Waterloo, Ont.,  and Thomas Williams of Burnaby, B.C., won the free skate to move from third to second at 151.70 while Molly Lanaghan and Dmitre Razgulajevs of Scarborough, Ont., were third at 142.94.

‘’This week has been really good for us,’’ said Sales. ‘’We have a lot more work to do for nationals. We need to reach the next level with our free program and that’s going to be a big focus in our preparations.’’

In junior ice dancing, Ashlynne Stairs of Burnaby and Lee Royer of St. Albert, Alta., remained first despite the third best free skate with 137.78. Alicia Fabbri of Laval, Que., and Claudio Pietrantonio of Terrebonne, Que., won the free skate to surge from fourth to second at 135.60. Olivia McIsaac and Elliott Graham of Angus, Ont., were third at 134.56.

‘’Our free dance was a little shaky,’’ said Royer. ‘’We know what need to do to improve for the nationals.’’

Iliya Kovler of Richmond Hill, Ont., won the men’s junior event.

Skate Canada Challenge was the sole qualifying event for novice, junior, and senior skaters to earn entries to the 2018 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships taking place in Vancouver, January 8-14, 2018.

Full results: 2018 Skate Canada Challenge

Aurora Cotop top Canadian at Junior Grand Prix

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GDANSK, Poland – Canadian junior champion Aurora Cotop of Toronto placed ninth on Friday at the sixth stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit.

Alena Kostornaia led Russia to a 1-2 finish with Daria Panenkova second. Rino Kasakake of Japan was third.

Cotop, 15, opened the competition placing eighth in her short program Thursday and produced the 12th best free skate on Friday. She was seventh last month at the season opening event in Brisbane, Australia.

In pairs, Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor of Australia took the gold  ahead of two Russian entries. Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin were second and Anastasia Poluianova and Dmitry Sopot were third.

Lori-Ann Matte and Thierry Ferland of Lévis, Que., were 12th and Canadian novice champions Chloé Panetta of Laval, Que., and Steven Lapointe of Acton Vale, Que., were 14th.

In ice dancing after the short dance, Olivia McIsaac of Burlington, Ont., and Elliott Graham of Angus, Ont., are fifth with 53.44 points, just two points from third spot. Seungyun Han of Waterloo, Ont., and Grayson Lockhead of Sweaburg, Ont., are sixth at 51.15.

In men’s competition after the short program, Conrad Orzel of Woodbridge, Ont., is ninth.

The men’s free skate and the free dance are on Saturday.

Full results: ISU JGP Baltic Cup 2017

Decisive women’s junior win for Aurora Cotop at 2017 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships

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OTTAWA – Aurora Cotop of Richmond Hill, Ont., won the women’s junior gold medal on Thursday at the 2017 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships.

Cotop, the national novice champion last year, tabulated 163.11 points for the victory. Emily Bausback of Vancouver took the silver at 151.52 and Alison Schumacher of Windsor, Ont., was third at 150.17.

‘’Unbelievable,’’ said Cotop after her win. ‘’This season has been difficult for me with my performances. I have had trouble finding my knees. However, tonight I just didn’t worry about the placement and just showed everyone what I could do.’’

In men’s junior competition, Stephen Gogolev of Toronto won the gold medal with Conrad Orzel of Woodridge, Ont., second and Samuel Turcotte of Varennes, Que., third.

“In the beginning, it was a bit shaky,” said Gogolev, who fell on a triple during the first minute of his program. “Then, as I went through the first three jumps, I kind of got used to it and it got much easier later in the program.”

In junior pairs, Evelyn Walsh of London, Ont., and Trennt Michaud of Trenton, Ont., were the winners with 155.73. Lori-Ann Matte and Thierry Ferland of Lévis, Que., followed at 141.33 and Olivia Boys-Eddy and Mackenzie Boys-Eddy of Brampton, Ont., were third at 122.53.

‘’We still have things to work on but it feels pretty great to get the win,’’ said Walsh. ‘’We worked as a team and kept the performance sharp. We still have our sights on landing a triple twist in both the short and long programs and cracking 100 points for the free skate.’’

Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of Greenfield Park, Que., won the junior ice dance title on Tuesday.

In novice competition, the champions were: Corey Circelli of Toronto in men’s singles, Catherine Carle of Milton, Ont., in women’s singles, Natalie D’Alessandro and Bruce Waddell of Toronto in ice dancing and Chloé Panetta of Acton Vale, Que., and Steven Lapointe of Laval in pairs.

Senior competition gets underway Friday with the short programs in all four events.

Full results: 2017 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships Results

Eleven-year-old wows crowd at 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships

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Novice Men Podium National Skating Championships 2016

Novice – Men

Novice Dance Podium National-Skating Championships 2016

Novice – Dance

HALIFAX – Eleven-year-old Stephen Gogolev of Toronto landed a triple Axel en route to the gold medal in men’s novice competition which concluded on Wednesday at the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships.

Gogolev scored 142.30 to outdistance his nearest rival by more than 20 points. Matthew Markell of Prescott, Ont., took silver at 120.25 and Bruce Waddell of Toronto was third at 106.91.

‘’I felt more comfortable in the long program than the short,’’ said Gogolev, who is coached by Brian Orser. ‘’I just wanted to go out there and do my best for my first nationals.’’

Markell also delivered a personal best performance. ‘’There are some elements I know I could have done better but it is a great way to end the season,’’ he said.

Ontario skaters grabbed all four Canadian titles in novice.

In ice dancing, Olivia Han and Grayson Lochhead of Kitchener, Ont., took the gold with 90.26 points. Alicia Fabbri of Terrebonne, Que., and Claudio Pietrantonio and Laval, Que., were second at 89.22 and Irina Galiyanova and Tommy Tang of Toronto were third at 87.50.

‘’It was pretty intense and lots of fun,’’ said Han. ‘’We are pretty proud of our performances.’’

Novice Pair Podium national skating championships 2016

Novice – Pair

Novice Women Podium National Skating Championships 2016

Novice – Women

In pairs, first-year teammates Jamie Knoblauch and Cody Wong of Milton, Ont., were the victors at 119.90. Katrina Lopez and Kurtis Schreiber of Calgary were second at 104.81 and Hannah Dawson of Hawkesbury, Ont., and Daniel Villeneuve of Sherbrooke, Que., were third at 103.50.

‘’We did exactly what we wanted,’’ said Wong. ‘’We had fun with it.’’

In women’s competition, Aurora Cotop of Thornhill, Ont., overcame a three point deficit after the short program to win gold with 123.85. Olivia Gran of Kelowna, B.C., the leader heading into the long, followed at 121.84 and Natalie D’Alessandro of Thornhill was third 117.56.

‘’For my free program I really wanted to just perform after getting the nerves out in the short,’’ said Cotop. ‘’I wanted to show what I could do.’’

Competition continues Thursday with the completion of the junior event.

The seniors go Friday and Saturday.

More information: 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships